Class:10 Poem:10

 CLASS:X

Poem:10

The Tale of Custard the Dragon 

Questions and Answers 

Short Answer Type

Question 1.
What were the names of Belinda’s pets?
Answer:
The names of Belinda’s pets were Ink, a little black kitten; Mustard, a little yellow dog; Blink, a little grey mouse and a dragon whose name was Custard.

Question 2.
How did the pirate look?
Answer:
The pirate held a pistol in his left hand and another pistol in his right hand. He had black beard and his one leg was of wood. He held a bright cutlass in his teeth. It was clear that his intentions were not good.

Question 3.
Why did the Belinda cry for help?
Answer:
Belinda was scared to see the pirate who had pistols in his hands and had a bright cutlass in his teeth. There was something bad in his appearance and intention. Therefore Belinda was afraid of the pirate and cried for help.

Question 4.
What did the custard do at last?
Answer:
Custard saved Belinda and the other pets from the pirate. He showed his braver side and attacked the pirate and gobbled him up. Finally, Custard showed that he was not as coward as others.

Question 5.
Why did the Custard, the dragon cry for a nice, safe cage?
Answer:
Custard, in fact, was very brave but still he kept asking for a nice, safe cage. It made people think him to be cowardly. He might be crying for a nice, safe cage so that he might not harm anyone when in anger or he might be proving that a little safety cage averts a disaster. The others thought that he cried for a cage as he was a coward.

Question 6.
What did Belinda and her pets hear?
Answer:
Belinda and her pets heard a nasty sound made by the pirate breaking in through the window. Belinda and her pets except Custard were terrified and cried for help. Ink, Blink and Mustard fled away cowardly. Custard fought with him bravely and killed him.

Question 7.
What terrified the pirate? Who killed him and how?
Answer:
Custard, the dragon, jumped up, snorting and clashing his tail. He was making a lot of clatter and clankering and he was squirming. He attacked the pirate. It terrified the pirate. He fired at Custard and missed. Custard killed him by swallowing him up. It shows that he was brave.

Question 8.
Write the poetic aspect of the poem “The Tale of Custard the Dragon”.
Answer:
The poem “The Tale of Custard the Dragon” is a light-hearted story, written in the ballad style. It is written in a four-lined stanza format with the rhyming scheme of aabb. It takes it near to the heroic couplet. The poem offers many similes. The stanzas vary in size. The lines are prosaic and long. The first two stanzas act as refrain to indicate continuity. The words are simple.

Question 10.
Everyone believed that the Custard was a coward; but when an opportunity came he showed exemplary courage. Based on y our reading of the poem, write a paragraph on the topic: ‘Courage is a Mind, not of Muscle’.
Answer:
Mark Twain once said that ‘Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear—not absence of fear’. Courage is not merely a show of power but the ability to overcome fear and not allow it to paralyze our minds. Most of us tend to generalize and call people who shy away from a physical show of power as being cowards.

But the truth lies in the fact that those who indulge in physical aggression are the ones who are the most insecure. David was barely one-fourth of Goliath, the giant. Yet David succeeded, in killing him. He had used his presence of mind and stood successful over an entire army. Thus, we must remember that courage is a matter of mind, not muscle.

.

Question 12.
Who are the characters in this poem? List them with their pet names.
Answer:
The characters in this poem are Belinda, a little black kitten, a little grey mouse, a little yellow dog, a little pet dragon and a pirate.

Character	Pet name
Kitten	Ink
Mouse	Blink
Dog	Mustard
Dragon	Custard

Question 13.
Why did Custard cry for a nice, safe cage? Why is the dragon called “cowardly dragon”?
Answer:
Custard cried for a nice, safe cage because it was a coward. It is called a ‘cowardly dragon’ because everybody else in the house was brave. Belinda was as brave as a barrel of bears. Ink and blink are described as so brave they chased lions down the stairs and Mustard was as brave as a tiger in rage. Compared to them, Custard cried asking for a nice and safe cage, which is why it is called a coward.

Question 14.
“Belinda tickled him, she tickled him unmerciful…” Why?
Answer:
Belinda tickled the dragon unmercifully because it was very scared and cried for a safe cage. They all laughed at it as it was a coward.

Question 16.
Read the stanza three again to know how the poet describes the appearance of the dragon.
Answer:
The teeth of the dragon, Custard were having fine edges or points. There were spikes with sharp points on the top of his body and beneath his body had scales or hard body. His mouth looked like a fireplace or hearth and his nose was like a chimney. And there were short pointed daggers like sharp points on his toes.

Question 17.
Can you find out the rhyme scheme of two or three stanzas of the poem?
Answer:
The rhyme scheme of each stanza of this poem is ‘aabb’.

Question 18.
Writers use words to give us a picture or image without actually saying what they mean. Can you trace some images used in the poem?
Answer:
Some such images used in the poem are ‘mouth like a fireplace’, ‘chimney for a nose’, ‘brave as a barrel full of bears’, ‘brave as a tiger in a rage’, ‘went at the pirate like a robin at a worm’, etc.

Question 19.
Do you find The Tale of Custard the Dragon to be a serious or a light-hearted poem? Give reasons to support your answer.
Answer:
The Tale of Custard the Dragon is a light-hearted poem. It is almost a parody. The names of the pets of Belinda are all rhyming and funny. Belinda has been compared to a barrel full of bears. The kitten and mouse, both little, could chase lions down the stairs. The little yellow dog was as brave as a tiger, while the dragon was a coward and they all teased him. However,when the pirate came to their little house, all of them were engulfed in fear and had hidden themselves.